Effects of Exercise Training on Heart-Rate-Variability Indices in Individuals With Down Syndrome

Abstract

The results indicate that individuals with DS have ANS dysfunction that can be improved by exercise's increasing the parasympathetic modulation.

Reduced Work Capacity in Individuals with Down Syndrome

“…Giagkoudaki et al (18) found similar changes in HRV after a 6-month endurance training program in persons with DS. The exercise intervention included both aerobic (65%Y85% V O 2peak ) and resistance training (12 repetition-maximum) for 12 wk at a frequency of 3 dIwk j1 .…”

Heart rate variability in individuals with Down syndrome – A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Regarding effect of physical exercise, despite the different methodologies (a session or in a multi-session program), the results are similar. Some studies (Baynard et al, 2004;Goulopoulou et al, 2006;Giagkoudaki et al, 2010) indicated differences in resting modulation between groups, and after exercise training, in the DS group there was an improvement of sympathovagal balance to levels seen in healthy individuals, chiefly by increasing vagal activity (Giagkoudaki et al, 2010;Mendonça et al, 2013).…”

“…Independent of their protocol, some studies have found no changes at rest (Iellamo et al, 2005;Figueiroa Figueroa et al, 2005;Angiovlasitis et al, 2011;Mendonça et al, 2013;Bunsawat et al, 2015); others describe an increase in the indices representing the sympathetic branch of the ANS (Carvalho et al, 2015), and others, greater parasympathetic activity at rest (Baynard et al, 2004). Lastly, there are those that indicated reduced total HRV at rest in DS (Giagkoudaki et al, 2010;Goulopoulou et al, 2006), in which there is the decrease in both branches of the ANS. In these studies, with reduced overall modulation, there are cases where there is a specific decrease in vagal activity (Giagkoudaki et al, 2010;Mendonça et al, 2013), which has also been observed in our meta-analysis, since that RMSSD was lower in DS than controls and it expresses the parasympathetic branch of the ANS (Vanderlei et al, 2009;Arab et al, 2016).…”

“…Lastly, there are those that indicated reduced total HRV at rest in DS (Giagkoudaki et al, 2010;Goulopoulou et al, 2006), in which there is the decrease in both branches of the ANS. In these studies, with reduced overall modulation, there are cases where there is a specific decrease in vagal activity (Giagkoudaki et al, 2010;Mendonça et al, 2013), which has also been observed in our meta-analysis, since that RMSSD was lower in DS than controls and it expresses the parasympathetic branch of the ANS (Vanderlei et al, 2009;Arab et al, 2016). Assuming that parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems are the principal regulators of cardiac chronotropism and the key determinants of the magnitude of spontaneous cardiovascular variability (Task Force, 1996;Draghici and Taylor, 2016), the imbalance in their functioning could explain the chronotropic ineffectiveness typically reported in subjects with DS, even without congenital heart disease.…”

Impacts of low or vigorous levels of physical activity on body composition, hemodynamics and autonomic modulation in Down syndrome subjects

“…DS inherent abnormalities such as brainstem malfunction 32 , poor growth and encephalic maturation, causing neuronal 33,34 and dendrite 35 loss and, other anatomic and genetic disorders can be the cause of the autonomic imbalance. 36 The clinical relevance of this study lays on the chronotropic incompetence present in the DS patients, leading to increased cardiovascular risk, altogether with the autonomic imbalance, also a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases 37 .…”